University News

Caterpillar Foundation Sponsors Chance for Six Students to Study in China

February 3, 2012

MACOMB, IL – A substantial donation to Western Illinois University by the Caterpillar Foundation will help six students study in China this fall.

The Caterpillar Foundation Scholarship, which was awarded to WIU in November, will pay for the expenses associated with studying abroad. The money can be used for all costs related to each student's program of study, including travel expenses and meals.

Emily Gorlewski, assistant director of the WIU Office of Study Abroad, said the company's scholarship donation totaled $91,500 and can be used at a variety of Chinese study locations, including Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu.

Gorlewski said the Caterpillar Foundation awarded the scholarships to several universities as a result of an initiative suggested by U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. The pair proposed 100,000 students studying in China in the immediate future.

Although there was no funding mechanism in place for the programming, Gorlewski said private businesses, such as Caterpillar, made the money available for the study opportunities.

The one-time program covers nearly all of the program-related expenses and is open to WIU students who are studying accountancy, computer science, engineering, engineering technology, finance, information systems, marketing, network technologies or supply chain management. Students must be in the sophomore class or above, in good judicial standing and have a grade point average of 2.8 or above.

WIU students must complete an application, write a 500-word essay and have letters of financial aid eligibility and recommendation from a WIU faculty member. The deadline to file for this scholarship is March 1.

In addition to the Caterpillar Foundation Scholarship, the WIU Study Abroad Program has other scholarship opportunities for students wanting to expand the boundaries of their study.

For more information on the Caterpillar Foundation Scholarship or other opportunities, contact Ehren Kuzekov at EM-Kuzekov@wiu.edu or Michelle Terry at the College of Business and Technology Advising Center at ML-Terry@wiu.edu or at (309) 298-1619.